Obiter Dicta Issue 3 - September 29, 2014

Volume 88   |   Issue 3  |  obiter-dicta.ca The Definitive Source for Osgoode News since 1928 Monday, September 29, 2014 BEYOND FERGUSON the human cost of racial profiling ê A scene from Ferguson, Missouri that could just as easily have been from the G20 Summit in Toronto. andrea anderson › contributor O n august 9 an unarmed young, black male was shot at least six times - twice in the head - by a white police officer. For hours, the body was left in the street, uncovered and uncared for. The days following the shooting were marked with an explosion of moral outrage and public anguish. Widespread suspension of dissent and democratic rights through criminal sanctions would ensue. The police’s paramilitary mindset and tactics combined with the slow, selective, and confusing release of information surrounding the events leading up to and after the shooting only served to enflame the situation. Today, for the most part, the public protesting has stopped. The images of tear gas, riot gear, and the reports of use of rubber bullets, suppression of information, and the arresting of civilians and journalists is, somewhat, a distant memory. America’s public dialogue surrounding the events in Ferguson, Missouri continues however. Allegations of a history of racial profiling and discussions around the culture of policing, the use of force, and the implications on equality have emerged. On one hand is the debate on whether the militarization of the police was an appropriate response to contain civil unrest. Others focus on the issue of economics, namely, that the protest was borne out of anger over the racial disparities in income. And still, there are those in the middle, who claim that there is “no racial divide” in Ferguson at all. In any case, it is almost understood that the death of Michael Brown, at the very least, required a real conversation about the state of race relations in the United States. To the Canadian public, in general, the discourse in » see ferguson, page 16 In this Issue ... editorial Start-up Summer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 news Anishinaabe Law Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 opinion Scottish Referendum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 special report Policing & Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 arts & culture t i ff Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10